turbulent flow
noun
: a fluid flow in which the velocity at a given point varies erratically in magnitude and direction compare laminar flow
Examples of turbulent flow in a Sentence
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However, even with modern supercomputers, a direct and accurate simulation of all but the simplest turbulent flows remains out of reach, and a complete understanding of turbulence has eluded researchers for some 200 years.
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Katie Hunt, CNN, 6 Feb. 2025
While turbulent flow is chaotic and irregular, as a fluid’s movement causes larger vortices or eddies to form and break down into smaller ones, physicists have long attempted to study and model the process using mathematical equations and computers.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 6 Feb. 2025
Now, a new analysis by physicists based in China and France suggests the artist had a deep, intuitive understanding of the mathematical structure of turbulent flow.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 19 Sep. 2024
Batchelor’s scaling mathematically represents how small particles, such as drifting algae in the ocean or pieces of dust in the wind, are passively mixed around by turbulent flow.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 19 Sep. 2024
That is, some turbulent flows exhibit energy cascades, whereby large eddies transfer some of their energy to smaller eddies.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 17 Sep. 2024
But the news is not all good: Odor plumes are almost always turbulent, and turbulent flow makes searching by gradient wildly inefficient.
—Dana MacKenzie, Discover Magazine, 20 Mar. 2023
The strengthening fields, in turn, generated their own turbulent flow of stellar material.
—Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 24 Jan. 2023
But their parents were looking even happier, running the intended science experiments with those toys and reading up on Bernoulli’s Principle, turbulent flow, and the like.
—Corey S Powell, Discover Magazine, 19 Oct. 2011
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Katie Hunt, CNN, 6 Feb. 2025
While turbulent flow is chaotic and irregular, as a fluid’s movement causes larger vortices or eddies to form and break down into smaller ones, physicists have long attempted to study and model the process using mathematical equations and computers.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 6 Feb. 2025
Now, a new analysis by physicists based in China and France suggests the artist had a deep, intuitive understanding of the mathematical structure of turbulent flow.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 19 Sep. 2024
Batchelor’s scaling mathematically represents how small particles, such as drifting algae in the ocean or pieces of dust in the wind, are passively mixed around by turbulent flow.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 19 Sep. 2024
That is, some turbulent flows exhibit energy cascades, whereby large eddies transfer some of their energy to smaller eddies.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 17 Sep. 2024
But the news is not all good: Odor plumes are almost always turbulent, and turbulent flow makes searching by gradient wildly inefficient.
—Dana MacKenzie, Discover Magazine, 20 Mar. 2023
The strengthening fields, in turn, generated their own turbulent flow of stellar material.
—Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 24 Jan. 2023
But their parents were looking even happier, running the intended science experiments with those toys and reading up on Bernoulli’s Principle, turbulent flow, and the like.
—Corey S Powell, Discover Magazine, 19 Oct. 2011
Cite this Entry
“Turbulent flow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turbulent%20flow. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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